Mavericks have the chance to form huge Duke brotherhood through NBA Draft

With the 2026 NBA Draft being just over a month away, the Dallas Mavericks have the chance to turn the American Airlines Center into Cameron Indoor South with two of their draft picks. They already have Cooper Flagg, Kyrie Irving, and Dereck Lively II on the team, all of whom played at Duke in college, and this year's draft class has two potential Duke draftees whom Dallas should consider: Isaiah Evans and Maliq Brown.

Evans and Brown played with Flagg at Duke during the 2025-26 season, and the Mavericks could continue the "brotherhood" they built as Blue Devils in the NBA. "The Brotherhood" is the official branding of Duke Men's Basketball, and with the team already having three former Blue Devils under contract for next season (Irving, Lively II, and Flagg), adding two more would likely be an opportunity Flagg and company would be excited about.

Former and current Duke players do an excellent job of building relationships with one another on and off the court. While Brown and Evans seem to have a close relationship with Flagg off the court, what they bring on the court is what should have Mavericks fans excited.

Isaiah Evans could become one of Dallas' best shooters

Evans averaged 15.0 points per game for the Blue Devils last season while shooting 36.1 percent from downtown, and his 3-point shooting would help Dallas significantly. The Mavs were among the worst shooting teams in the NBA last season, and adding more shooting is something that both Masai Ujiri and Jason Kidd have mentioned this offseason.

Evans is the type of prospect you can't pass up on if he's still on the board when Dallas is on the clock at pick 30, and his size and shooting on the wing would be welcomed for a team that's desperately trying to get back to the playoffs.

His range is extremely impressive for a 6-foot-6 wing, and he's the 3-point marksman that the Mavericks' young core needs. Evans' game is all about knocking down open shots, and he should be a flamethrower off the bench at the NBA level.

Maliq Brown is a monster on defense

With Brown, his game is completely different from Evans. He's a 6-foot-9 forward who plays inside, and rather than outside shooting, his strength is defense.

Brown was one of the best defenders in all of college basketball last season, as he was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and won the Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year this past season. The Lefty Driesell Defensive Player of the Year award goes to the best defender in the country, and Dallas picking him at No. 48 would be a steal due to his ceiling on the defensive end. He could even go undrafted.

Brown averaged 4.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 62.9 percent from the field as a senior at Duke. The Blue Devils were the No. 4-ranked defense in all of college basketball last season, and a big reason for this was Brown's versatility. He can guard nearly any position on the floor and has great hands.

This would be a perfect fit with Flagg, and if Brown can polish his offensive game, he'll be a staple of a rotation somewhere. His defense made him someone Jon Scheyer heavily relied on off the bench this past season, and if the Mavericks draft him, they'd then have two menacing former Blue Devils on the wing on defense with Flagg and Brown.

Getting Evans and Brown isn't impossible

With where Dallas is positioned in the draft, getting them both is actually a possibility. Evans falling to 30 won't be easy, but if teams are concerned about his underwhelming athletic testing at the NBA Combine, this could be great news for the Mavs. Brown is poised to be on the board when they pick at 46, though, and drafting both players would make Dallas' Duke core even bigger.

They already have the most former Blue Devils under contract in the NBA next season with three (Lively II, Flagg, and Irving), and adding at least one of Evans or Brown into the mix would be an excellent move.

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